it's not the same without a wolf. if a wolf represents wilderness. if you go to another state and they don't have the top apex predator, and that is the wolf. when you lose that you lose something, it's a magestic animal. the effort to save wolves has taken an unexpected and controversial turn. in december a federal judge stopped the wolf hunt after a lawsuit filed by mann mall rights activists charging the wolf population was being mismanaged by the state. wolves in the great lakes are on the endangered spees lis list. >> for all practical purpose, that ruling was riddage u louse -- ridiculous. this professor examined it for years. has the wolf population been managed well or mismanaged? >> they've been managed very well. >> it's not what a federal judge ruled. >> that's true. i think she didn't understand what goes on here. >> they argue that the population is thriving and says there's 13,000 wolves across america. >> there's not a danger. there's enough wolves so they are not endangered. we are not going to lose the wolves. >> he says request we k

i'm wolf blitzer. >> i'm wolf blitzer. >> worse name cnn correspondent wolf blitzer. >> wolf blitzer, news. >> i'm wolf blitzer, such an exciting name for such a boring name. >> what kind of a name is wolf, anyways? >> it's so obvious that god made it up for the war. >> i'm wolf blitzer and this is "the situation room." >> homey, where you at? >> i'm in "the situation room." >> ha-ha, straight up. >> all right. yeah. >> i'm going to do push-ups for everyone and i want you to count them out loud. blitzer, get up here and sit on my back. >> one, two, three -- >> the crawl is a privilege, not a right. >> my face is being haunted by the ghost of an old beard. >> it's like hi we now take you to our war correspondent. >> so let me warn the gun-slinking buccaneer. >> you're watching "the situation room." >> very funny stuff. just laughing. today, by the way, is presidents' day here in the united states and tonight our north american viewers will get to see six cnn anchors testing their knowledge of presidential trivia. it airs tonight for our north american viewers at 9:00 p.m. eastern. that

wolf? >> barbara starr at the pentagon thanks very much. >>> up next digging deep sbeer this potential mosul offense. will the iraqi forces be up for the fight and why would the u.s. be revealing detailed battle plan to the world right now? >>> also ahead, rudy giuliani doubling down on the controversial comments about president obama. now all eyes are on the 2016 republican presidential hopefuls to see how they respond to what the former new york city mayor had to say about the president of the united states. seriously? where do you think you're going? to work, with you. it's taco tuesday. you're not coming. i took mucinex to help get rid of my mucusy congestion. oh, right then i'll swing by in like 4 hours. forget the tacos! one pill lasts 12 hours. i'm good all day. wait! your loss. i was going to wear a sombrero. only mucinex has a bi-layer tablet that starts fast, and keeps working. not 4, not 6, but 12 full hours. start the relief. ditch the misery. let's end this. the real question t

wolf? >> stand by.nited states and the king of jordan at the white house. we'll hear what they have to say. let's go live to jordan where cries for revenge against isis are growing louder. what's the latest there? >> reporter: wolf so much anger here in jordan on the streets of amman. we saw hundreds of people this evening taking to the streets as the news broke. people are in shock, really and there had been some hope over the past week or so with these talks of possible negotiations possible prisoner swap that the pilot could return home. of course many are just absolutely shocked by the news this evening. and as you mentioned, calls for re revenge, calls for burning of the prisoners of isis in jordanian prisons and they hope that their government will respond, something that we have heard from the jordanian government and the jordanian military tonight, wolf saying that they are going to retaliate and it's going to be a harsh retaliation. while there's been a debate ongoing in this country about whet

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in 1926, park rangers exterminated the wolf population, triggering a cascade effect.n the following years the elk population soared, seriously impacting other species. the elk consumed much of the vegetation in the lamar valley an area in the north of the park and many species that depended on this vegetation, such as beavers, grew scarce. to combat this problem different methods were adopted over the years to control the elk population, including trapping and killing them. finally, in a controversial move to restore the park's natural conditions, wolves were brought back into yellowstone after a 70-year absence. dr. crabtree: in 1995 and 1996 after 20 years of effort by a lot of organizations, wolves captured as social groups in canada were transported down, acclimated in pens and released. the fundamental question is, is the wolf gonna fit right back into the niche it once had or have things changed substantially enough to where their new niche is actually different than what it was at the turn of the century? narrator: scientists hoped that, as the top predator in

wolf? >> not very good numbers for the president at this critical moment on these national security related issues. michelle thank you. >>> we are also following breaking developments in the aftermath of a deadly terror attack in europe. we are just now learning the alleged gunman apparently pledged support to isis before heading off to attack a free speech rally, then a synagogue in denmark. our justice correspondent pamela brown is joining us live from copenhagen. what's the latest you are hearing about this gunman? >> reporter: well we are learning that just before the shootings here this past weekend, the suspect, who authorities say is omar al hussain, pledged allegiance or fidelity to the isis leader al baghdadi. he then according to authorities, went to a free speech event right behind me here opened fire. he killed one person and wounded three other policemen here. it's believed he was targeting the controversial artist lars vilks who had depicted the prophet muhammed with a dog, wa

>> wolf, it is. it is plausible. and down at centcom right now with the coalition, when they do these planning targets or these bomb runs, all of those aspects of the prisoner and the hostages are all taken in effect with the operational planners and the intelligence analysts going through nitpick detail to make sure they don't target anything they have. we all know that this intelligence especially in syria, is not as good as we have in iraq now. so it is plausible and it could be unfortunate. but sometimes that's the collateral damage that happens in these wars. >> what's your analysis, paul cruickshank? >> well i think it's very convenient from the isis point of view that she would be in this building alone without any other guards. isis is saying that no isis fighters were killed in this strike. and hit by a jordanian aircraft. it seems very very convenient for propaganda purposes from the isis point of view. so i think we should be very very skeptical about the specifics of this claim. >> you're also seeing -- y

wolf? >> jim acosta thank you. we're also learning about more about how the united states confirmed the death of kayla mueller. let's bring in pamela brown, our justice correspondent. pamela/. >> just a few minutes ago a very emotional press conference with family and friends of kayla mueller wrapped you. they talked about the 26 26-year-old dedicating her life to others. one friend said she did ordinary thing to extraordinary measures. she found freedom even in captivity. through tears, her grieving aunt said kayla brought joy to everyone around her. >> the world grieves with us. the world mourns with us. the world wants to be more like kayla. and if that is her legacy and the footprint that she leaves on the world, then that is a wonderful thing. in kayla's letter to marsha and karl she wrote, i have come to see there is good in every situation. sometimes we just have to look for it. and right now that's what we're all trying to do. >> and her family releasing that letter that kayla wrote to them this last spring

wolf wolf "wolf" begins right now. >>> hello. i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. 7:00 p.m. in copenhagen. 8:00 p.m. in jerusalem. 9:00 p.m. in moscow. wherever you're watching from around the world thanks very much for joining us. we start with three developing stories. we're learning more about possible ties between isis and the deadly shootings in denmark. the intelligence service there now admits they were warned about the shooter being radicalized while in prison. they also say there were no indications he was actually planning an attack. we're about to go live to copenhagen. >>> in libya, egyptian planes continue their assault on isis positions. the air strikes are retaliation for the beheading of 21 egyptian christian laborers in libya. we have an exclusive report from their hometown. >>> today here in washington the obama administration's planning to submit -- planning to go forward with a summit on combatting what they call violent extremism. as many as 60 countries are taking part in the three-day summit. part of the event will highlig

but here's the thing, wolf. the jordanian government is under a lot of pressure because we do not know what was going on in these indirect negotiations that they had been having with isis whether there had been any demands put forward for the release of moaz al kasasbeh. as you mentioned, as we know the only time he was mentioned when isis threatened to kill him unless a direct swap took place for the release of sajida rishawi in exchange for japanese hostage kenji goto. they said if that did not happen they would go ahead and kill moaz al kasasbeh. and of course the jordanian government said during the course of these negotiations they asked for proof of life. they did not get. we also heard them again at the end of last week also doing that publicly calling for that proof of life. so the jordanian government does seem to have known more than it was saying publicly something we'll wait and hear from them in the coming hours. >> it is brutal brutal video indeed. and it lasts for some 22 minutes as we said. we're

wolf starts right now. >>> hello, i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. 6:00 p.m. in london. 9:00 p.m. in baghdad. wherever you're watching, thanks very much for joining us. we start with a rally and cry for president obama at the white house summit on combatting extremism. the president spelled out the challenges in fighting a growing global problem and called on all nations to do more. here's what he listed as one of the most pressing problems right now. >> when people especially young people feel entirely trapped in impoverished communities, were there is no order and no path for advancement, were there are no educational opportunities, were there are no ways to support families and no escape from injustice and the humiliations of corruption that feeds instability and disorder. and makes those communities ripe for extremist recruitment. we have seen that across the middle east and seen it across north africa. so if we're serious about countering violent extremism, we have to get serious about confronting these economic grieve issisms and commit to expanding educ

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> breaking now, tens of millions of people are still being hammered by this second winter storm to strike within days. it's dumping up to 14 inches of snow in massachusetts, just a week after that state was smothered by accumulations of more than two feet. it's the same storm that just left a foot and a half in chicago and has buried parts of ohio. so far, more than 4400 flights have been canceled today and as temperatures plunge bringing wind chill readings of below zero ice will become a huge problem in much of the northeast. i will talk to boston's mayor, marty walsh, and our correspondents and analysts are all standing by with full coverage. let's begin with brian todd. he is joining us from andover, massachusetts with the very latest. brian? >> reporter: wolf conditions here have just gone from very bad this morning to much worse this afternoon because this snowfall has been pretty relentless. officials here are telling us they are really worried

wolf?pam, thanks very much. >>> we're also learning new details about a preparation for a major upcoming battle to liberate the iraqi city of mosul. barbara starr, what are you learning? >> wolf all important, number one, is will the iraq forces stand up and fight this time as many of them did not last year when isis rolled through northern iraq. what we now know is that the u.s. has been shipping a good amount of weaponry to the iraqi forces. let's look at what has been going on there since the first of the year. we know that 10,000 m-16 rifles have been shipped as well as 10,000 optical scopes. these are pieces of technology that go on the rifles to improve the targeting, especially in tur urban areas. there are 200 additional mrap mine resistant vehicles. now, all of this was preplanned but certainly convenient that it's going now for it to be ready for the attack on mosul. but -- and it's a big but -- an alternative scenario i have to tell you, wolf is emerging. defense secretary ash ca

>> that's right, wolf. and the suspected ring leader in that plot isis are now claiming that he's back in syria, that he's evaded this international man hunt to get him. and they actually include what they claim is an interview with him in syria. they also include pictures of him and the two dead gunmen in that raid that belgian security forces conducted in eastern belgium last month. i've spoken to a senior official who says they were actually the two gunmen killed in that raid. so there's a picture of him with these two gunmen he took before he left syria. he's then thought to traveled to greece. isis is now saying he's back safely in syria. so another potential propaganda coup from this terrorist group. >> the new issue of this isis magazine is entitled quoting now, may a la curse france. the cover is of the eiffel tower. what's the message? >> well, they consider france a combatant trying to destroy the islamic state and that just about any frenchmen are enemy combatants. same with britain and of course

wolf?ng that a large number of terrorist cells are operating in france. they are actually tracking in his words, hundreds of possible terrorist cells in france. that's a lot more than people suspected. >> i think they knew from the beginning that they were following that many before the attacks happened. and when they called off the surveillances of the kouachi brothers last june we questioned at the time who are they still following that they let go of these guys because of a lack of resources? so the fact that there's hundreds of potential terrorists in france is nothing new. it goes back at least a decade. they are coordinating among the countries. >> you're a good person to ask this question to. the white house is hosting and tomorrow as well a summit that they are entitling countering violent extremism. there's been criticism that that may not be the correct phrase if you will because they are not using specifically violent or radical islamists or islamic extremism. what do you think a

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> breaking now, a chilling new threat from a brutal al qaeda ally aimed at america's heartland. a group responsible for the slaughter in a shopping center in kenya is now calling for attacks on shopping malls in the west including minnesota's huge mall of america. that comes as a top u.s. spy chief says there are now blind spots in tracking terrorists and the defense secretary gathers top commanders for an urgent huddle on combatting isis. as the parents ever slain hostage kayla mueller slam the policy i talk with peter king from the homeland security and intelligence committees. he is standing by live along with cnn correspondents and analysts. let's get the very latest from brian todd at the mall of america in minnesota. brian? >> reporter: wolf this latest video from al shabab has prompted officials here to really ramp up security, but it is a huge challenge. this mall the mall of america, has more than 80 acres for officials to patrol to monitor.

wolf? >> so jordan is clearly trying to establish a major new arab-led sunni arab-led coalition, the uae coming in other arab states presumably going to join in and intensify attacks against isis as well. >> it's clear they are galvanized in the wake of the killing of the jordanian pilot, and now you see the uae which had initially pulled out when that pilot was kidnapped, now rejoining the fight and helping out jordan. >> an impressive coalition. let's see how they get this thing done. thanks very much. in iraq right now, coalition war planes have been pounding isis targets around the city of mosul. kurdish forces are battling isis on the ground. ahead of an expected offensive aimed at retaking the city from the terror group. cnn's phil black reports on the front lines in northern iraq. >> reporter: kurdish peshmerga fighters alert, watching. their enemy is close. the commander points out a factory complex only a short distance away. he says isis is there. we hear more rounds fly overhead

>> reporter: hi, wolf. well i don't know if you can hear the sound of shelling behind you just as you were talking to me is what seemed like a launch coming from that direction, targeting the other side of donetsk and the shelling started off about 10, 15 minutes ago. it's been pretty quiet here all day since this morning. but this evening there does seem to be renewed shelling. so from where i'm standing the cease-fire really doesn't seem to be anything of a cease-fire. i don't know if you could hear that. it's unclear who is fighting clearly. but step two of the minsk agreement was once weapons were down, heavy weaponry should start to be withdrawn. and i spoke to the osce who have their monitors in ukraine and they say there's continued fighting not justaround donetsk but also around where we had the heavy fighting last week. and neither side has done what they're supposed to have done pr viegd an inventory of the weapons and the route in which they would withdraw. we know there is a meeting in paris tom

rs and reinvesting in education the plan from pennsylvania governor tom wolf, to put money back in public schools. >>> and now the fallout from the controversy in a rocked little league baseball this morning the jackie robinson west team that beat philadelphia's taney dragons was stripped of their title. other officials are now suspended. little league baseball says that the league violated rules saying who could and could not be on the team. >> reporter: a south suburban little league team was the first to raise the red flag months ago accusing jackie robinson west of cheating and now the feel good story of summer has a foul ending. little league baseball has stripped chicago's sweethearts of their title. jackie robinson west was the first all african-american team to win the championship. and the coach has been suspended and district administrator mike kelly removed from his position and they say that the ruling is disappointing. >> it is a sad day for everyone. for the city of chicago as well as the kids. the coaches did the best with the kids and they had their best interests at heart

"wolf" starts right now. >>> hello. i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. 6:00 p.m. in london. 8:00 p.m. in cairo. 9:00 p.m. in mipgs. minsk. if left unchecked, isil will pose a threat beyond the middle east including to the united states homeland the exact words of president obama sent in a letter to the united states congress today along with a formal request to grant him sweeping war powers to fight isis. in just a few hours, the president will speak to the american public indeed to the world about his proposal which limits operations to three years. it allows limited use of ground troops and does not restrict a battlefield to only iraq and syria. for more on all of this let's bring in our white house correspondent, michelle kosinski and our chief congressional correspondent dana bash. michelle this authorization, this language that the president submitted, he's seeking requests powers to fight isis terrorists without an enduring offensive combat role. those are his words. so what exactly is he seeking? >> reporter: that's open to interpretation to some point, isn

>> wolf, i think they're destroying themselves. i think the long-term prognosis -- if you've got basically the entire arab world against you and the entire western world, you're looking at a two-year three-year time lime for them to be severely degraded. in the meantime unfortunately, they're doing relatively well. in iraq some reverses. in syria, they continue to do pretty well. so it's going to be a long-term project. cutting off their finance, cutting off trying to get the foreign fighter flow to reduce is all part of a larger plan that is under discussion at the white house today amongst many other things that goes beyond the simple military plan. >> peter bergen, thanks very much. >> thank you. >>> still to come in a matter of hours, president obama will deliver the keynote remarks at the white house summit to counter violent extremism. topping the agenda the barbaric attacks carried buttout by isis. ♪ they lived. ♪ they lived. ♪ they lived. ♪ (dad) we lived... thanks to our subaru. ♪ (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru

punxsutawney phil's governor tom wolf came to his defense.n his own facebook posting wolf called on the merrimack police to drop its search for the famous groundhog. l governor said pennsylvania will do what's necessary to protect our beloved weather-predicting groundhog. >> for us we're doing okay. phil, hey, i'll take his forecast any day. think about it. we're halfway through february. compared to this time last year, we could, you know we could -- this time last year we could count the number of snowstorms on two hands. this year a couple that's about it. >> we've hardly had anything compared to last year. boston had most of it new england had most of it. despite having not a lot of snow we'll have snow high winds today, bitterly cold air. we'll miss out on big-time snow once again. blizzard conditions in boston as they go throughout the weekend. for us we're looking at a wild weekend but we're not expecting those huge snow amounts that new england will get once again. we do have a first weather alert day. let's take a look outdoors. we'r

governor tom wolf posted on facebook and demanded they drop cold hearted policy. he calls 23eu8 american legend and pennsylvania hero it's not of the first time he was in trouble with the law. two ears yaing go a prosecutesers bunished from lying. he later dropped the charm. >> oh, boy. >> was going to need a mrankset and space heater to keep warm in this borough over the weekend. >> temperatures dproping big time it i feel for the folks in new england. we have around this weekend double scan lifery dara round the region is quiet friday night and winds calmed down and in fact how to feels when you step outside right now it's the warnlest it has been all day. 1 in fall, 1 allentown balmy 18 in wilmington. 9 many millville. feels four be lee in mount poke toe. if you need help clothes to -- you can sigh snow breaking out satisfieded south and east ahead of the polar express arctic attack outbreak, whatever you want to do it. it's mooching in our direction. future tracker at 50. and initally you'll see a light band of snow developing 3:00, wilmington top, philadelphi

>> reporter: wolf i will tell you the latest.ith the ukrainian president and they will fly to moscow to try to rescue a peace agreement out of the war on the ground here a plan presented by the russian president described to me earlier by a western official not as a peace plan, as a cynical document. they will be dealing with the president in russia who has made and violated peace agreements before. all this while russian forces and russian-backed forces escalating violence on the ground. secretary kerry arrived in ukraine in the midst of what state department officials called a grave escalation on the ground. ukrainians described as barbaric attacks on civilians. the culprit they made clear, russia. a massive influx of russian heavy weapons and russian soldiers. moscow's recent denial to cnn from the kremlin spokesman sparked a bitter response. >> he said there are no russian tanks or army in ukraine. these accusations are not true. i wonder if he could react to that and also just answer if you believe the u.s. in the west can h

>> well i don't know wolf.hink that it's -- i'll go out on a limb here and speculate that they probably killed her. there's no way for this group to have recognized jordanian f.-16s bombing. you just hear them and you hear the bombs hit. and the fact that they claim that no isis members were killed is very unlikely and they probably didn't want to go public that they killed her but i think they most definitely did. but without having the body i don't think forensic scientists can tell. you can tell from pictures she's dead. but how, we don't know. u.s. intelligence clearly does not have people inside isis to give us that answer. so i think it may be a while before we finally figure out what happened here. >> bobby ghosh, the jordanians clearly have been mobilized. they're moving quickly not only in the air but maybe even on the ground. the united arab emirates over the weekend deployed a squadron of f-16s to jordan. started launching air strikes themselves. i assume the coalition of moderate sunni arabs is goin

wolf blitzer will take over the helm right after this. >>> hello i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. 8:00 p.m. in amman jordan. 8:00 p.m. in kiev ukraine. thanks very much for joining us. jordanian fighter jets striking back against isis and the united states turning up the heat on russia as the crisis in ukraine escalates. we're following breaking developments in these major international hot spots. jordan makes good on its promise to step up air strikes on isis targets. we'll go live to amman and the pentagon. and john kerry is in ukraine right now where pro-russian separatists seem to be gaining significant ground. the situation there described by a u.s. official as dire. we'll have the latest live from kiev. let's begin with jordan and this dramatic fight against isis. president obama condemned the terror group during remarks at the national prayer breakfast earlier today. >> from a school in pakistan to the streets of paris, we have seen violence and terror perpetrated by those who profess to stand up for faith, their faith. profess to stand up for islam, but

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> let's begin with the breaking news. president obama speaking out at a white house summit on countering violent extremism, telling a gathering of global leaders the full force of the united states will be used to defeat isis. the president also defended his decision not to call the war against isis a religious conflict saying and i'm quoting him now, we are not at war with islam, we are at war with those who have perverted islam. we are covering all angles this hour with our correspondents our guests including the armed services committee member the iraq war veteran congresswoman tulsi gabbard. but let's begin with jim acosta. jim, tell our viewers what the president just said the main message he was trying to deliver. >> reporter: wolf i think the headline here no doubt about it is that president obama defended his decision not to use terms like islamic extremism or islamic terrorism at this speech on a summit on countering violent extremeism. the p

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> we are following the breaking news. a major new offensive against isis now in the works. we are learning the u.s.-led coalition is getting ready to launch a major operation to seize iraq's second largest city, mosul, from terrorist control. this offensive will move beyond air strikes. we are told it will include ground troops taking on isis militants. we are covering all the angles of the breaking news with our guests, including senate armed services committee member joe manchin and our cnn correspondents. our pentagon correspondent barbara starr begins our coverage. what are you hearing from your sources about this new offensive against isis positions in mosul? >> reporter: wolf we have just had a briefing from a u.s. military official who revealed some extraordinary detail about what is incoming in the next couple of months to try and retake iraq's second largest city. this official telling reporters the offensive to take mosul now scheduled for a

i will tell you, wolf listening to u.s.ian proposal in advance of the talks as frankly delusional it's hard to see how they would circle that square or square that circle between the russian position and ukrainian position. but they are making an attempt. we will watch what that document says sunday. >> we will see when angela merkel is here in washington for meetings with president obama. we will stay in close touch with you. >>> let's bring in a member of the senate intelligence committee and foreign relations committee. senator, thanks very much for joining us. let's talk about 26-year-old kayla mueller. i assume you have been briefed. what can you share with our viewers about her fate? >> well i think pretty much what you have reported already. and that is there is great skepticism. certainly, our hearts and prayers go out to the family. but having said that their claim, the claim that's made is made by people who are murderers, rapists, robbers. they burn people alive. there's no reason to believe that they have any cr

>>> it was a fascinating conversation wolf. what he thought of this controversy here as to what we should call groups like isis and should we call them islamic or should be do what president obama is doing? he very much endorsed president obama's approach that he didn't think that we should confer on them the mantel of islam because they're what he calls outlaws or renegades of islam. he talked very much about how this was an arab fight. he said it's our fight. we have to do it. we want your help. we want the international community's support. he's very grateful i think for american troops and air strikes being involved but he didn't seem to want american troops on the ground. he wanted to fight this as an arab fight. he's working very hard to make that happen. the day before i saw him, he was in saudi arabia. an hour after i saw him, he went to egypt. he's trying to rally an arab coalition, arab troops and a kind of ideological war. he's trying to get people to describe them as i said as outlaws and renegades. he's trying to g

>> it was received very well wolf. after speech. we heard from ted cruz as well. i'm hearing them take on hillary clinton even more. they very much have their sights set on the democratic front runner, even though she hasn't declared. >> i want you to listen to another republican potential candidate, the new jersey governor chris christie speaking out today at this event. >> listen if what happens is if the elites in washington who make back room deals decide who the president is going to be he is the frontrunner. if the people of the united states decide to pick the next president of the united states and they want someone who looks them in the eye, connects with them and is one of them, i will do okay if i run. >> he took a little hit there at jeb bush. >> he did. he knows he is running in the same sand box, if you will as jeb bush. >> more moderate. >> looking for the same donors more establishment republican. 3he had a q and a format but he not only took after jeb bush but hi stood by his sit down and shut up comme

gloria borger, wolf blitzer with me now to talk about this. gloria and dana bash with us from capitol hill, i should say, gloria, help me understand this. did the democrats just help play john boehner here, they voted no on three weeks but now saying they'll vote yes on seven days. >> i think what the democrats did was deliver a very strong signal, you can argue politically whether it was the right thing or the wrong thing to do because i think in the end, congress looks bad, but what they did was they said to republicans, you know what, folks? you run the house. we are not going to bail you out anymore. we want to fully fund the department of homeland security. we want to deal with immigration separately. you should do it that way. and if you can't get a majority to do that, that's your own problem. and they, as we call in washington, whipped this which means they were counting votes on this. they were arguing to all of their members they ought to be united and you saw nancy pelosi say she saluted her colleague's leadership and i think they p

wolf?ticipate in the not too distant future a major increase in the number of jordanian and presumably u.s. air strikes, is that what i'm hearing? >> reporter: well look, king abdullah is the one that is saying it that jordan will take action and he tends very much to be a man of his word. he doesn't take any of this lightly, to say the least. so if he is putting it out there, the u.s. takes him at his word. let me just say, it takes about 72 hours, this is a known fact for the so-called air tasking order. the coalition list of targets that are portioned out to different countries, it's a 72-hour cycle from when you start. we don't know when it starts but we know it will take about that amount of time for all the pieces to be put in place. if king abdullah lives up to his word which we expect that jordan will take action against isis. >> barbara, thank you. after the brutal murder of its pilot, jordan wasted absolutely no time in hanging those two jailed jihadists. king abdullah is making i

wolf? >> as you know the pentagon has released a lot of details, a lot of information about the upcoming battle plan. kurdish forces for example, are supposed to block escape routes to the north and west of mosul, for instance. is that giving away too much information to the enemy, namely isis right now? >> reporter: well you know the pentagon insists that it's not. those escape routes already we have seen air strikes for several days in that area to try and cut off isis' access to mosul. it's a big area. isis is still moving around a good deal. the pentagon insists that no tactical information, that fine-tuned information about how forces will be arrayed on the battlefield, how they will move where they will move exactly when they will move that that information is not forthcoming. they claim, they say they didn't offer anything up that isis doesn't already know. as some people are pointing out, this will give civilians in the area a chance to at least try and get out of the way. wolf? >>

it reads, governor wolf has the power to grant reprieves. the governor took the action to place the moratorium on the death penalty because the capital punishment system in pennsylvania is flawed. it's ineffective, expensive and many times unjust. >>> no showers overnight. and more record cold. when we'll finally get a break and i'm watching a storm about to impact your weekend. >> it wasn't just an accident. to me it was no random act of violence or carjacking. >> vanished without a trace. no evidence no witnesses. a decade later, we sit down with the family asking where the case stands today and the new job on the police force to help find missing people. >>> a new drug philadelphia police might soon carry on the streets to save lives. philadelphia will become the latest community to arm police and firefighters with a drug to -- both the police and fire departments will hold a news conference to discuss using a drug trademarked as narcan. the medication can reverse a heroin overdose. >>> tomorrow the fbi could reveal new details on a 10-ye

they think he's more of the lone wolf variety at this point. obviously the investigation is in its early stages but they'll be looking to see what kind of contacts he had in the extremist scene in copenhagen and denmark, fred. >> so i imagine tara this makes it a lot more challenging for counter-terrorism, law enforcement to try to prevent if you have the case of lone wolfs. they're not necessarily corresponding with anybody, coordinating but perhaps their behavior is strange leading up to the event like you know accumulating arms to the degree this alleged gunman may have done. i mean help suskind of understand what law enforcement or counter-terrorism sxerds are up against when they don't necessarily have a trail in which to follow like you do if someone is associated with a terror group or network? >> sure. obviously a lone wolf doesn't have the capacity to carry out or inflict as much damages as a highly advanced attack that employs lots of money and resources. having said that the more resources, the more individuals involved the more ties

wolf? >> jim acosta thank you. the president's request for formal war fighting authority comes as isis is extending its reach in the middle east. let's go to our chief national security correspondent, jim sciutto. he is watching what's going on. the president trying to underscore he doesn't want another -- the united states in another ground war but he did open the door potentially for more u.s. ground forces going in there. >> he did. in fact he gave very specific circumstances. he said for instance if we have intelligence on a senior isis leader we might send in special forces to go and take that leader out. in fact his commanders have brought up other instances that are possible the idea of forward ground controllers to call in air strikes and to put some of these military advisors in iraq on the front lines as they prepare iraqi forces prepare to retake the isis stronghold of mosul this spring. all those possibilities on the table. but keep this in mind as well. in addition to further c

>> that's right, wolf. isis are claiming that the suspected ringleader in that major plot in belgium last month has safely returned to syria. belgian counterterrorism officials believed that he was coordinating that plot from greece but in a new interview with this isis english language magazine he's describing how he evaded that international manhunt to return to syria. it also features a picture of him, you see it on the screen right now, with two of the dead gunmen in that special forces operation from the belgian point of view in eastern belgium last month. all of this really tying isis to this plot. this would be the sort of first isis plot against the west. there has been a lot of concern that pivoting towards this and of course on your show last week a senator said that isis were moving beyond aspirational when it came to launching plots against the u.s. homeland. a lot of concern right now that this group could target europe but also the united states. >> what was the target in belgium of this isis

>> reporter: exactly, wolf. they believe that somehow this truck got stopped on the tracks in this very busy intersection. you eyeball it from right here. the markings are there. rail crossing the red flashing lights there are crossing guards there are signs, do not stop on track. so somehow some way this truck got through there right here at fifth street and rice in oxnard and was on the track. one report from ventura county fire is the engineer was able to try to slam on some sort of brakes and minimize the impact. perhaps that helping to save countless lives in this collision. >> and for some reason the driver of that truck simply ran away. he was picked up as you point out, about a mile or so from this intersection. stand by, paul. joining us on the phone is the fire investigator for the city of oxnard, joe garsis. thanks very much for joining us. what can you tell us about the cause of this horrific train crash? >> like paul was saying we have five cars total that were derailed. three are on their side. and

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> we are following two breaking stories right now. the clock is clearly ticking down toward a partial shutdown of the department of homeland security as congress battles over funding. this showdown happening at a critical time. the united states and britain are vowing to hunt down the cold-blooded isis killer known as jihadi john. the londoner who has brutally slaughtered western hostages on camera. but while the world now knows his true identity mohammad emwazi was known to british security services for years. he was detained more than once. so how did he escape that scrutiny and become a key figure in the isis reign of terror? how will the department of homeland security protect americans from a terror threat which is growing daily if congress cannot find a way to pay those workers whose job is supposed to keep all of us safe? looks like republicans are moments away from failing to break the deadlock over funding the department of homeland security.

wolf has four kids and owes $417 this month. the power company says it's ready to switch off her electricity. so, we met some clients just now. some people, it looks like their heating bills are almost half of what they pay for rent. you know, what kind of burden is that putting on families here? >> well, it's a tremendous burden considering economic times, and some were maybe not working, some maybe on social security, some maybe have two or three jobs. >> reporter: in north carolina, low-income families are eligible for a range of government programs to help stay warm in the winter. generally, they're administered by the state and paid for by the federal government. but in recent years, federal spending on programs for the poor has been cut. so, for example, the federal utility bill subsidy only pays up to $400 a year in north carolina; we met families who owe more than that every month. so, increasingly, local governments are partnering with private nonprofit organizations to try to find new ways to help poor families cope wi

. >>> hello, i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here. wherever you are watching from around the world thanks very much for joining us. up first in the united states the northeast gets hit by a one-two punch. millions of americans are dealing with snow sleet, even blizzard-like conditions. massachusetts is getting pounded for the second time in a week. parts of the state could get hit with another 14 inches of no. earlier the storm pummelled the midwest, areas including cleveland are still under a winter storm warning. a toledo ohio police officer died while shoveling snow. heavy snow is causing major problems for driver. in nebraska two people died in car dozens on slick roads, and the storm is snarling air travel all across the united states. more than 3500 flights were canceled today. that according to flightaware.com. in boston it's snowing now 1 to 2 inches an hour in areas around the city. it could get up to a foot of additional snow it's making driving conditions pretty treacherous. brian todd is driving just north of the city what

. >> is there a chip in their for governor wolf.ou change the funding formula maybe i'll stop being against this, is this a bargaining chip? >> i don't think it is, wolf is against it. i'm pro charter. there's a narrative out there that's that's making it a corporate takeover by coke brothers. there are other parents whole get out of these schools that will never perform. >> how does the process work, will we find in a matter of months we have a lot of more. >> i think there will be a few more. some of of these are linked, one got in and the others are -- kipp are the same formula they use. why would you take only one out of three, because of some quota. until may there are things they are negotiating, you can do it, but you have to move the location, so the final things here are not clear. what were you going to say ajay. >> if you look at it in the past 10 years 225% increase in charter schools nationally. 115 increase in the number of chapter schools that opened and long line of people waiting to get into charters. but the notion

>> they are, wolf. and what's interesting, too, according to the fbi is that two of them got on their radar last summer. and the fbi introduced an undercover informant to try to figure out exactly what they were up to because they were talking about support for isis and expressing interest to travel over there and join with these militants. according to what the fbi says they have on them which includes recorded conversations, one of these guys also was noticed by his mother who was worried that he might be radicalizing and perhaps intending to travel to syria. she took away his passport. and so he decided to try to come up with an alternative reason for how he would get over there. it's something that they were very determined to do wolf. >> the three men, aged 19, 24 and 30. stand by, evan. all this news comes just a short time after we heard directly from the fbi director james comey, who had a shocking revelation. listen to this. >> those people exist in every state. i have home-grown violent extrem

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wolf?>> amid all of this we're getting some upsetting new video, video showing isis destroying valuable meaningful items, historic artifacts. give us some context. >> reporter: this was video that was posted on the internet this afternoon. and what you see is -- first of all, there's a man who explains why they're doing it. he says that these artifacts, these idols these statutes that god has ordered them to be destroyed. and he says he must destroy them even if they're worth billions of dollars. then you see one statute after another on pedestals being smashed to the ground into pieces. then you see other men with sledgehammers breaking them up. then you see a man with a drill who is defacing one of the famous winked bulls of ninava. these date back to 700 b.c. it looks like they're going through the museum of mosul and ransacking it destroying almost everything. we spoke to a source in mosul today who says this video only tells part of the story. the other part is that many of the truly v